The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has said that it is preparing to defend jobs and fight against retrenchments at Openserve, which is a subsidiary of the Telkom Group.
Openserve is the country’s largest telecommunications infrastructure provider with the biggest fixed broadband network.
The company served recognised unions at Telkom with a section 189 and 189A notice.
In the notice, management says it is contemplating retrenchments of approximately 1 073 employees out of 5679 employees.
It claims that it has gone through various financial and operational challenges.
It cites an average decline in operating revenue, from R7.8bn to R6.4bn over the period 2019-2022, and also a decline in voice revenue over the same period.
It also says that persistent power outages have impacted “negatively on the company and its clients”.
Therefore it is contemplating restructuring and possible job cuts.
These changes, if implemented, will affect all operations in all regions.
Telkom is partially privatised with the government as the shareholder owning the majority of the shares at 40.5% whilst the other 14.8% is owned by the Public Investment Corporation.
“It is disappointing but not surprising that once again, under the leadership of the ANC, more jobs are being shed. It is clear that job losses and high unemployment are synonymous with the ANC and this is why we have such high levels of unemployment. You cannot separate the suffering of the working class from the governing party, because they are one and the same. This government has no vision to create jobs, and it has no plan to retain the few jobs that exist,” Numsa said in a statement on Thursday.
“The job loss blood bath is continuing unabated under their leadership and this is happening against a backdrop of 43.4% expanded unemployment, coupled by the highest inequality in the world. At the same time, it is worth noting that the contemplated retrenchments are as a result of load shedding, which is another reminder of the dire impact that rolling blackouts are having on the economy and on all aspects of business. The unavailability of electricity has a direct impact on productivity. There can be no economic growth without a regular supply of electricity,” Numsa further said.
Numsa said that the rolling blackouts have been bleeding the economy, destroying jobs and people’s livelihoods.
“It seems that workers and their families at Openserve, are among the many thousands of people whose livelihoods are being threatened by power cuts. We are here because the ANC government, as the shareholder of Eskom, has collapsed the power utility, to the point where it cannot guarantee electricity supply. The first consultation will take place on Friday, 24 February and it will be held under the auspices of the CCMA,” Numsa further stated.
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